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Heel Tough Blog: Kyan Evans & Zayden High Set to Transfer
WRAL Sports Fan After firing Hubert Davis, exactly two weeks ago, it was only a matter of time before Carolina’s roster headed to the transfer portal, after a disappointing finish to the season, highlighted by a 19-point loss to VCU in the NCAA Tournament. The process began on Sunday with freshman guard Isaiah Denis heading for the portal, and continued yesterday, as Jaydon Young, Derek Dixon, and Jonathan Powell all made it known they were transferring as well. The moves con

Joshua Marlow
Apr 72 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Reserve Big Man Becomes 5th Transfer Portal Entry
ESPN After a flurry of transfer portal entries yesterday, the roster movement continues for the UNC Basketball program, in the wake of the Michael Malone hiring, as reserve big man James Brown will enter the portal, after two seasons in Chapel Hill. An injury cut his sophomore season short, limiting Brown to just nine games, where he averaged 1.2 points and 1.4 rebounds. For his Tar Heel career, Brown played in 27 games and averaged 1.2 points and 1.0 rebounds The former top

Joshua Marlow
Apr 71 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Jonathan Powell Becomes Latest Tar Heel to Enter the Transfer Portal
GoHeels.com After losing Isaiah Denis, Jaydon Young, and Derek Dixon to the transfer portal, the portal entries didn’t stop there, as sophomore wing Jonathan Powell has announced he’s entering the transfer portal, after one season with the UNC program. Powell arrived in Chapel Hill with high hopes after a strong start to his career at West Virginia, and while he certainly had his moments, Powell never developed into the perimeter scorer Carolina was hoping for, averaging 4.8

Joshua Marlow
Apr 61 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Derek Dixon to Enter Transfer Portal With Option to Return
GoHeels.com The news around the Carolina Basketball program continued after the hiring of Mike Malone as the new head coach of the Tar Heels, as freshman point guard Derek Dixon announced his decision to enter the transfer portal, making him the most significant Tar Heel to do so. Dixon, who started over the last two months of the season for Hubert Davis, experienced an up-and-down season in Chapel Hill, averaging 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists on 37% shooting from the

Joshua Marlow
Apr 62 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Hires Former NBA Champion as Next Head Coach
Field of 68 In a move that not only shocked the UNC fan base, the college basketball world, and even the NBA world, the University of North Carolina has hired former NBA head coach Mike Malone as the next head coach of the program. Over the weekend, Carolina learned that neither Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd or Michigan’s Dusty May were leaving their respective spots to take the vacant job in Chapel Hill. The belief was that Carolina had turned their attention to Billy Donovan of the

Joshua Marlow
Apr 62 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Second UNC Guard Set to Enter Transfer Portal
GoHeels.com After losing Isaiah Denis to the transfer portal yesterday, the Tar Heels lost reserve guard Jaydon Young to the transfer portal today, ahead of the portal's official opening at midnight tonight. Young arrived in Chapel Hill after starting his career with the Virginia Tech Hokies, and in the 31 games played this season, Young averaged 1.8 points per game, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists, while shooting 30% from the field and 28% from behind the arc. Young was brough

Joshua Marlow
Apr 61 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Isaiah Denis to Enter Portal
Grant Halverson- Getty Images The transfer portal for college basketball is set to open on Tuesday and the first name that will be entering from a Tar Heel perspective has been revealed. As he announced via his social media on Sunday night, true freshman guard Isaiah Denis will be entering his name into the transfer portal. Denis did say that he is leaving the door open to a return to Chapel Hill, though, meaning if the new coach wants him back, he will at least consider it.

Anthony Pagnotta
Apr 51 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Tommy Lloyd to Stay At Arizona
Arizona Sports Before his team competes in tomorrow night’s Final Four, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd agreed to a five-year contract extension that’ll keep Lloyd in Tucson, after a week’s worth of speculation that he might leave for the vacant UNC job. After UNC fired Hubert Davis after losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and hired a search firm to help conduct the search, they identified Lloyd, as their top candidate, after setting a record for most wins by a

Joshua Marlow
Apr 32 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Caleb Wilson Hints at NBA Decision
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images While the search for a new head coach is the top priority for the UNC athletic department, roster decisions are being made in the meantime, as players are determining whether or not to stay committed during the search, or to enter the draft or the transfer portal. The player with the biggest decision to make is Caleb Wilson, who had his historic freshman season cut short due to multiple injuries, and there was a sliver of hope that he’d return for his

Joshua Marlow
Mar 271 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Assistant to Join Wes Miller's Staff at Charlotte
247Sports After Hubert Davis was fired on Tuesday night, staff changes are expected, as Carolina’s head coaching search is on the way. But before Carolina could make their hire, they had already lost a valuable assistant, as Marcus Paise is leaving UNC to join Wes Miller’s new staff at Charlotte, according to Inside Carolina. Paige is a former standout UNC player, playing at Carolina from 2013-16, guiding the Tar Heels to the 2016 Final Four, before losing the national champi

Joshua Marlow
Mar 271 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Top Candidate Removes Himself From UNC Opening
Iowa State Athletics The Carolina Basketball job hasn’t been open 48 hours yet, and there’s already been two big names to remove themself from consideration from arguably the best job in college basketball. Yesterday, Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics made it known he wasn’t leaving the front office of the most storied franchise in the NBA for the sidelines in Chapel Hill, and just earlier today, Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger made it known he wasn’t leaving Ames for UNC either

Joshua Marlow
Mar 261 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Brad Stevens Removes Name From UNC Coaching Search
Sky Sports The Carolina Basketball job hasn’t been open for 12 hours, and arguably the biggest name on the wishlist has already removed his name from consideration. Every time a major college basketball job comes available, Brad Stevens, the former Butler coach who led the Bulldogs to title game appearances in 2010 and 2011, always comes up in conversation. Stevens, who left Butler for the Boston Celtics in the mid 2010s, has been away from the NBA sidelines since 2021, when

Joshua Marlow
Mar 251 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Fires Hubert Davis After 5 Seasons
CBS Sports Earlier tonight, the Carolina Athletic department announced that Hubert Davis would not return as the head coach of Carolina Basketball, after five seasons, firing the hand-picked successor to Roy Williams, after serving on his staff for nearly a decade, following a standout career at both UNC and in the NBA. In his five seasons, Davis compiled a 125-54 record, with an appearance in the 2022 Final Four, along with guiding Carolina to the 2024 regular season ACC tit

Joshua Marlow
Mar 242 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Monday's Scheduled Hubert Davis Live Postponed
GoHeels.com Ever since the horn sounded, ending UNC’s season after a loss to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, speculation around Hubert Davis’s job security has been the biggest question around the Carolina Basketball program. According to reports, both close to the program and from the national media, the expectation is for UNC to move in a different direction after an uneven five years under Davis. Another sign that Davis has coached his last game is that it

Joshua Marlow
Mar 222 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Caleb Wilson's Jersey to Be Honored in Dean Dome Rafters
Despite having his freshman season cut short because of a fractured wrist injury, followed by a broken thumb, Caleb Wilson earned All-American honors from the Associated Press, meaning he’ll become the 54th Tar Heel to have his jersey honored in the rafters at the Smith Center. At the time of his injury, Wilson led UNC in points and rebounds, and during his absence, his assists per game average now leads Carolina too. Wilson is the most decorated UNC freshman from a statistic

Joshua Marlow
Mar 171 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Wilson & Veesaar Earn All-ACC Honors
@UNCMBBStats With Saturday’s loss concluding the 2025-26 regular season, and the ACC Tournament set to begin tomorrow in Charlotte, it's awards season for the league and the rest of the college basketball world, as we inch closer to Selection Sunday. The Tar Heels compiled a respectable 24-7 record in the regular season, going 12-6 in the ACC, earning the #4 seed, and the last double-bye into this year's tournament. During the process of the regular season, Carolina set a new

Joshua Marlow
Mar 93 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Adds Legacy Commit to 2026 Class
Tipton Edits On Friday, after learning that Caleb Wilson was officially out for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, the Carolina Basketball program received some positive recruiting news, as they landed the commitment of 2026 three-star combo guard, Malloy Smith, the son of former UNC standout, Kenny “The Jet” Smith. Mally stands at 6-5, and is a product of Mater Dei High School, a school known for producing top-flight QB prospects, including Bryce Young, the QB of the Carol

Joshua Marlow
Mar 82 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Caleb Wilson Suffers Season-Ending Injury
Just moments earlier, ESPN and Inside Carolina have both reported and confirmed that Caleb Wilson, UNC’s leading scorer and rebounder, has broken his right thumb and will miss the remainder of his freshman season at North Carolina. Wilson, who has missed the last 6 games for the Tar Heels after fracturing his left hand in a loss at Miami nearly three weeks ago, sustained the injury during a non-contact drill during Thursday’s practice, ahead of tomorrow’s game against Duke. W

Joshua Marlow
Mar 62 min read


Heel Tough Blog: RJ Davis Halftime Ceremony Postponed
On Friday night, it was reported and confirmed by Carolina Basketball that former guard RJ Davis would be honored at halftime, as his jersey would be raised to the Smith Center rafters, after a decorated 5-year career in Chapel Hill. Unfortunately, due to the weather, Davis won’t be able to make it to Chapel Hill for tomorrow night’s game against Louisville, and the program has decided to postpone his halftime ceremony. His jersey has already been raised to the rafters, so yo

Joshua Marlow
Feb 221 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Henri Veesaar Officially Questionable for Syracuse Game
GoHeels.com When Hubert Davis met with the media on Friday afternoon, he confirmed that Henri Veesaar would be a limited participant in practice, and that he was officially questionable for Saturday’s game at Syracuse. This evening, the availability report for tomorrow’s game was officially released, and that’s exactly how Veesaar is listed, as the big man from Estonia will look to play for the first time since the loss to Miami nearly 11 days ago. Carolina has gone 1-1 witho

Joshua Marlow
Feb 201 min read
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